HOW TO CARE YOUR PLANTS.
1. Here are some good tips about the herb garden, revealing how use full and delightful can be herbs to the gardener, quite apart from their many uses around the house.
*Aspidistra-Occasionally put cold tea around the roots of an aspidistra, to act as a fertilizer.
Clean and polish the leaves with a mixture of half milk and half water or polish with a little olive oil.
*Avocado pear tree- Make a slit with a knife in an avocado pear stone and place it in a glass of water in warm, sunny place. When it starts to sprout (which may take several weeks), plant it in compost.
*Beans- Instead of buying beans to plant, save the last crop from one year to use as seed. Leave to dry in their pods, then remove and keep until they start sprouting in the spring. *Bird netting- Put inverted yogurt pots over the tops of canes to hold netting clear of fruit or vegetables.
*Homemade cloche-You need four wire coat hangers, a garden cane and polythene sheeting of the required size. Cut each of the coat hangers at one corner and open the horizontal bar to form a vertical leg.
Attach two pairs at the ‘neck’ and stand in the ground where needed. Fix the cane between the two ‘necks’, stretch the sheeting over the hangers and staple or stitch it in place.
*Individual cloche- Cover an old lampshade frame with polythene to make an individual cloche for rhubarb or a plant that needs nurturing.
*Compost-If you can’t be bothered to strain vegetables peelings (this is particularly tedious with new potato scrapings) pour the water and peelings together on to the compost heap. The water is good for it.
*Cuttings- Cover cuttings in pots with a polythene bag to create a humid atmosphere. The bag can be supported by loops of wire.
*Cut flowers- If you are arranging only a few flowers, you will find that an odd number of flowers make a more graceful group than an even number.
When arranging flowers, cut off the lower leaves so that none is submerged in water. Otherwise they will rot and harm the flowers.
If the stems of cut flowers are not long enough, put some screwed up newspaper at the bottom of the vase. Cut flowers, which arrive looking chilled or tired should be stood in warm water until they revive.
Roses should be cut early in the day, before the dew has dried. Woody stems, such as those of roses or chrysanthemums, should be crushed by hammering with a rolling pin or split at the ends before being arranged in a vase. This will help to make the flowers last longer.
Before arranging tulips, take a large darning needle and pierce the stems every two inches from just below the flower head to the bottom. To keep cut flowers fresh, change the water everyday; cut off a little of the stems everyday; place a copper coin in the vase.
